Just how deep does the rabbit hole go?
Posts tagged Washington
Obama aide makes absurd statements in attempted defense of IRS, Benghazi and AP scandals
02 days ago
Source: http://endthelie.com
By Madison Ruppert
Editor of End the Lie
Obama aide Dan Pfeiffer (Image credit: screenshot from “Meet the Press”)
Obama aide Dan Pfeiffer made the talk show rounds today saying that the “law is irrelevant” when discussing the IRS scandal and that Obama’s location in the wake of the Benghazi attack is an “irrelevant fact.”
While some of Pfeiffer’s statements were downright absurd, one must commend him for making an effort in such a scandal-filled week.
“I can’t speak to the law here. The law is irrelevant,” Pfeiffer said. Pfeiffer did admit, however, that “the activity was outrageous and inexcusable,” speaking of the IRS targeting specific groups.
See Pfeiffer make these comments on ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” below:
On CBS’s “Face the Nation,” Pfeiffer downplayed the IRS scandal and defended the way the Obama administration has handled it.
“What would be an actual real scandal in Washington would be if the president had been involved or had interfered in an IRS investigation,” Pfeiffer said, according to Politico.
“You do nothing to interfere with an independent investigation and you do nothing to offer the appearance of interfering with investigations,” Pfeiffer said, adding that administration officials responded after they had the facts.
He said that the White House is focused and will not allow Republicans to “drag Washington into a swamp of partisan fishing expeditions, trumped up hearings and false allegations.”
Pfeiffer also appeared on Fox News Sunday defending Obama’s handling of the Benghazi attack of September 11, 2012.
The host, Chris Wallace, reminded Pfeiffer that Obama didn’t actually talk with then-Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton or chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Martin Dempsey that night.
“He was talking to his national security staff,” Pfeiffer maintained.
When Pfeiffer was asked if Obama entered the Situation Room that night, Pfeiffer said, “I don’t remember what room the president was in on that night, and that’s a largely irrelevant fact.”
Pfeiffer later said that the host’s questions about Obama’s handling of Benghazi were “offensive.”
July 4th Open Carry March on D.C. – Recent Updates
01 week ago
Whether one agrees or not with supporting / joining the upcoming scheduled open carry march on D.C. on July 4th one thing is almost guarantied. If history proves anything the mainstream media will black this out until they can either edit and spin the story to their owner’s advantage or a provocateur created action gives the MSM the green light, as the spin has already taken place.
Below are article snippets with links to the full resources for the information I have seen to date. Research on your own if you choose as I am sure more information and opinions are available than I have had time to mention here.
The ultimate test of the 2nd Amendment: July 4th open carry march on Washington
By Lori Stacey
In what can only be described as perhaps the ultimate test of the 2nd Amendment in our nation’s capitol, an open carry march with loaded rifles is being planned for Independence day.
The organizer for this event is Adam Kokesh, an outspoken advocate for gun rights and veteran of the Iraq War. He is well-known within the Patriot community for pushing the envelope in order to bring attention to our constitutional rights and defense of them. He hosted a television show on Russia Today called Adam vs. The Man and has continued to bring forth radio segments on the internet using the same show title since leaving RT.
Adam was one of the organizers of a gutsy march on the White House on Presidents’ Day back during the primaries in support of Ron Paul. It was a march that comprised exclusively several hundred veterans and active duty military members whose goal was to proclaim that “Ron Paul was the choice of our troops.” It was carried out peacefully and respectfully but received very little national mainstream press coverage in spite of the uniqueness of such an event.
In perhaps Adam’s most courageous planned event to date, a march is scheduled for the 4th of July. A facebook group has been set-up to organize and plan the event which will be a march with loaded rifles slung behind participant’s backs. The information regarding the march openly discloses to interested participants that it will be a non-permitted event into Washington, DC where open-carry is forbidden to be done according to current gun control laws.
As stated in part within the facebook group’s information:
Should we meet physical resistance, we will peacefully turn back, having shown that free people are not welcome in Washington, & returning with the resolve that the politicians, bureaucrats, & enforcers of the federal government will not be welcome in the land of the free.
This event will be truly a test of whether or not the American people are still “allowed” to “peaceably assemble” freely without the unconstitutional need to get permission from the government, i.e. by permit. That is one aspect of the march that should be noted.
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Adam Kokesh Interviewed About The Upcoming Armed March On D.C.
The above video is Adam Kokesh’s first media appearance on the Alex Jones radio and TV show since he announced his armed march on D.C. Adam expanded on his publicly announced plan to lead an armed formation of 2nd Amendment Rights activists from Virginia’s Arlington National Cemetery to the White House and back. He told Alex Jones that this is an armed revolt and an overthrow of the illegitimate government but he agreed with Alex that what he means by that is it is a symbolic overthrow of their violation of the civil rights of American gun owners. This is a powerful interview, read the CNS news article below.
Alex Jones Interviewed Radio host and activist Adam Kokesh plans to lead an armed march from the Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia all the way to the White House and back.
According to a Facebook event posted by Kokesh, titled “ Open Carry March on Washington,” he plans to lead a peaceful march July 4th “across the Memorial Bridge, down Independence Avenue, around the Capitol, the Supreme Court, & the White House, then peacefully return to Virginia across the Memorial Bridge.”
As of 7:00am on 5/8/2013 there are 2,663 people who are intending to participate in this event.
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D.C. Police Chief Vows To Take Action Against July 4th Gun Marchers
An Iraq war veteran and Internet talk show host is trying to gather thousands of protesters to march into the District on Independence Day with loaded rifles on their backs.
But if Adam Kokesh follows through with his July 4 plans — 2,500 people have signed up for the cause — he and his makeshift band will be met on the Arlington Memorial Bridge by two police forces packing guns of their own.
Kokesh, 31, and D.C. Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier say they want to work together to ensure a peaceful airing of grievances. But the chief says only one side can have guns: hers. And she’ll have backup from the U.S. Park Police, which will also position officers at the District line.
“If you’re coming here to protest government policy, great,” Lanier said Tuesday on her monthly appearance on NewsChannel 8, reacting to the group’s plan to cross the Potomac River from Arlington National Cemetery. “If you’re coming here to break the law, we’ll take action.”
Lanier added, “There’s a pretty good chance we’ll meet them on the D.C. side of the bridge.”
Kokesh is calling the event an “ Open Carry March ” but described it as a general demonstration against “tyranny,” not a protest against specific gun laws.
News of the march comes amid a national debate over gun regulations that emerged after the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. Kokesh has chosen to stage his protest in one of the most strictly regulated cities when it comes to firearms laws — and one of the most contested.
D.C. Police Chief Vows To Take Action Against July 4th Gun Marchers [continued]
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Warning to Kokesh Marchers
By John Raines
There’s been a lot of confusion about Adam Kokesh’s armed protest march into Washington and multiple people have stated the group will simple turn around if they are met with resistance. I’d like to clear up some of the incorrect assumptions regarding political geography in the Washington D.C./Maryland/Virginia area.
First some history. During the colonial period, both Virginia and Maryland claimed ownership of the Potomac River. In 1776 Virginia ceded control and legal ownership of the portion of the river where the two states share a border in the Virginia Constitution.
Some time later in the 1790s Virginia and Maryland ceded land to the Federal government for the creation of Washington D.C. The portion of the Potomac that ran through the District was no longer part of Maryland but became part of D.C. In 1847, the Virginia portion was “retroceded” back to Virginia. However, the Maryland portion originally ceded to the Feds provided the legal ownership over the Potomac and remained in the possession of Washington D.C. This arrangement continues to this day.
What does this all mean? Conventional wisdom would assume that the border between two states is at the middle point of the river. However, with the Potomac this is not true. Since Washington D.C. has ownership of the Potomac River to the lowest point on the Virginia side, (through Maryland’s prior ownership) Adam and his formation will have a very short march before they find themselves in violation of D.C. law. So short in fact, they may mistakenly believe they are still in Virginia before even reaching the Memorial bridge as Columbia Island between the two locations is part of D.C. (Lady Bird Johnson Memorial park).
F2C2012: Aaron Swartz keynote – “How we stopped SOPA”
04 months ago
F2C2012: Aaron Swartz keynote – “How we stopped SOPA”
Published on May 22, 2012
Aaron Swartz keynote – “How we stopped SOPA” at F2C:Freedom to Connect 2012, Washington DC on May 21 2012.
Please support #PDFTribute papers uploaded by academics in honour of Aaron Swartz are being scraped here: http://pdftribute.net/
India Signs Mandatory GMO Labeling into Law
04 months ago
Source: http://naturalsociety.com
Paving the way for other nations to introduce similar legislation and inform consumers what they’re really putting into their mouths, the labeling of products containing genetically modified organisms (GMOs) within the nation of India is now mandated by law. The country’s Ministry of Consumer Affairsmakes declared in a June 5, 2012 notice that all GMO-containing packaged foods must be labeled by January 1, 2013 or face legal repercussions.
Each package containing GM ingredients will clearly be labeled directly on the prime real estate of the package as ‘GM’. A warning that many heads of organizations and even bodies within the Indian government are praising for its ability to inform individuals as to what they are really feeding their family.
“The labelling will basically help inform the consumer about the presence of GM content in packaged food products,” said B.N.Dixit, Director, Legal Metrology, Department of Consumer Affairs.
In the wake of crippled labeling attempts inside the United States thanks to Monsanto-backed corporate deception, such as phony campaign materials designed to deceive California’s Prop 37 GMO labeling campaign, this is an extremely bold message by India. A message that will likely be picked up by neighboring countries where citizens have been demanding GMO labeling — or even an outright ban. The move also comes after other countries like Poland already took moves to ban Monsanto’s genetically modified maize.
Even states like New Mexico and Washington are now pushing forward with legislation that would make labeling mandatory.
While the labeling declaration is certainly a victory, some Indian experts are saying that it would be much more of a victory for somewhere like the US, where around 90% of food products are pre-packaged or processed. The opposite is true in India, where much of the food available in local markets is whole food items and raw materials. In other words, the Indian citizens still prepare meals by hand in many cases. This means that they are using non-packaged food items like produce that may not be labeled.
Nonetheless, the law allows for an advancement in the lengthy fight against GMOs, which have been linked to a host of serious illnesses ranging from tumor development to infertility.
About Anthony Gucciardi:
Google Plus Profile Anthony is an accomplished investigative journalist whose articles have appeared on top news sites and have been read by millions worldwide. Anthony’s articles have been featured on top health & political websites read by millions worldwide such as Reuters, Yahoo News, MSNBC, and Bloomberg. Anthony is also a founding member of Natural Attitude, a leading developer of super high quality spagyric formulations.
Citizens Call for GMO Labeling in Washington – The Movement Continue
0Source: http://naturalsociety.com
By Mike Barrett
Once again the fight for GMO labeling has reignited with the introduction of a new GMO labeling bill, but this time in Washington. The “Label it Wa” campaign has already gained 350,000 signatures, and is finally headed to the Secretary of State’s office in Olympia for submission. As the movement comes during the same time that a New Mexico law calls for mandatory labeling of GMOs, it is obvious that individuals everywhere are still deeply concerned over the issue of GMOs.
If you aren’t concerned about GMOs, or think that foods aren’t labeled due to a lack of support over the issue, think again. In addition to being linked to weight gain and disrupting vital organs like the liver, GMO foods have actually been shown to cause massive tumors in rats, in addition to causing early death. Even more concerning is the fact that nearly 80% of the US food supply contains GMO ingredients. Ingredients that are likely created by biotech giant Monsanto, who is responsible for upwards of 90 plus percent of the world’s GM seed supply.
Perhaps this is why grassroots movements are popping up all around the country, and other nations have already taken a stand against GMOs. Despite the largest GMO labeling campaign Prop 37 taking a dive (due to false advertising and quite possibly questionable vote counting), still over 90 percent of citizens in the United States are heavy supporters of GMO labeling legislation.
Will the interest of Washington citizens win this campaign? One county in Washington, San Juan, has already succeeded in banning GMOs – at least to a degree. The residents helped pass Initiative Measure No. 2012-4 late last year that makes it illegal to ”propagate, cultivate, raise or grow plants, animals and other organisms which have been genetically modified.” Despite not effecting GMO products in stores, it’s still a step in the right direction for Washington citizens. It should also be noted that citizens of Washington have also helped pass one of the first amendments allowing for the recreational use of marijuana – another move that shouts ‘we demand individual rights’ by the people.
In the end, every act toward the labeling of GMOs brings us one step closer to winning the fight for these rights (and an overall ban on the disease-linked creations). California’s Prop 37 may not have passed, but the bill, along with the Washington bill and every other GMO labeling bill, are necessary stepping stones for both labeling of GMOs and the essential ‘right to know’.
Additional Sources:
GE and Citi Bank Get Huge Tax Breaks Out Of Fiscal Cliff Deal – Ben Swann
0
Source: http://www.dailypaul.com
Submitted by Ian56
Ben mentions some of the other items of Corporate Welfare and how the vast majority of taxpayers are going to pay more in taxes in 2013.
FOX19.com-Cincinnati News, Weather FOX19.com-Cincinnati News, Weather There are lots more items of Corporate Welfare that Ben didn’t mention. http://ian56.blogspot.co…. http://www.fox19.com/stor…
Federal Court OKs Big Pharma’s Reps to Push Unapproved Drugs
04 months ago
Source: http://spreadlibertynews.com
By Ali Papademetriou
It’s no secret that millions of Americans are prescribed an array of pharmaceutical drugs to “treat” a variety of conditions. It’s also been brought to surface in recent years just how corrupt the industry really is, and how medical professionals and psychiatrists are bribed big bucks to prescribe their patients pills that they might not even need, all for the cause of making a sleazy profit.
The federal government has been a big help for Big Pharma on many levels. After all, the pharmaceutical industry and ever-growing biotechnology industry (which is developing more and more drugs recently and collaborating with the pharmaceutical industry) have close ties with Washington.
One of the most corrupt scandals the federal government and pharmaceutical industry has been getting away with started back in the 90’s with the school system. For the past couple of decades, school administrators, teachers and psychologists have been threatening repercussions on both students and parents if they do not oblige with the school’s request to medicate the student with psychotropic drugs for behavioral issues such as Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder.
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) of 1990 granted children with disabilities special services. When it was first drafted, IDEA did not include children with ADHD as being eligible to fit the program’s criteria. Although, after a complex lobbying campaign the following year, the Department of Education pushed a Policy Clarification Memorandum, which mandated that schools include ADHD as a disability that be covered by IDEA.
So how exactly did the diagnosing ADHD craze come about? When IDEA allowed the federal government to fund public schools $400 per year for each child in special education.
Michigan parent, Lawrence Smith lost his 14-year-old son of a heart attack after long-term use of a drug that was prescribed to him through his school. Smith was told, “If we didn’t consider drugging our son after the school had diagnosed him with ADHD that we could be charged for neglecting his educational and emotional needs. If we hadn’t been pressured by the school system, Matthew would still be alive today.” Showing a clear relationship between the federal government, Big Pharma, and the public school system.
Similarly, Pennsylvania mother, Vicky Dunkle lost her 10-year-old daughter, Shaina to convulsions as a result of taking a similar medication as Matthew. “If I had followed my heart instead of the advice of ‘professionals’ that thought they knew my daughter better than I did, my precious Shaina would be alive now.”
Now, Big Pharma is getting away with another huge scandal that could potentially affect a lot of patients, and it’s getting the OK directly from the feds. A federal appeals court has granted pharmaceutical representatives the ability to push drugs that have not yet been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. As it’s not the job of the federal government to approve food or medication anyway, this headache is just proof of the corruption within the government itself. It says something has to be regulated, and then because of crony profiting purposes, it allows its very own laws to be breached.
As Natural News reported, a representative from Ireland-based Biopharmaceutical Company, Jazz Pharmaceuticals, who was originally charged with illegally marketing off-label used prescription medications, has been lifted of the crime after a federal appeals court in New York ruled his offense as just “free speech”.
Now after a small judiciary panel gave the OK, drug reps can now persuade doctors to prescribe medications for uses that have been unapproved. Regardless of the corruption within the system, being that this actually takes away some regulation could prove victory for liberty advocates and small businesses trying to sell a product that has been approved by another small business or organization, rather than the government, such as the herbal and natural remedy industry.
Image Reference
http://www.wkvi.com/local/laporte/laporte-county-sheriffs-office-opens-prescription-drop-site/
Ron Paul on the Fiscal Trick
04 months ago
Source: http://www.lewrockwell.com
Posted by Lew Rockwell
From Facebook:
Despite claims that the Administration and Congress saved America from the fiscal cliff with an early morning vote today, the fact is that government spending has already pushed Americans over the cliff. Only serious reductions in federal spending will stop the cliff dive from ending in a crash landing, yet the events of this past month show that most elected officials remain committed to expanding the welfare-warfare state.
While there was much hand-wringing over the “draconian” cuts that would be imposed by sequestration, in fact sequestration does not cut spending at all. Under the sequestration plan, government spending will increase by 1.6 trillion over the next eight years. Congress calls this a cut because without sequestration spending will increase by 1.7 trillion over the same time frame. Either way it is an increase in spending.
Yet even these minuscule cuts in the “projected rate of spending” were too much for Washington politicians to bear. The last minute “deal” was the worst of both worlds: higher taxes on nearly all Americans now and a promise to revisit these modest reductions in spending growth two months down the road. We were here before, when in 2011 Republicans demanded these automatic modest decreases in government growth down the road in exchange for a massive increase in the debt ceiling. As the time drew closer, both parties clamored to avoid even these modest moves.
Make no mistake: the spending addiction is a bipartisan problem. It is generally believed that one party refuses to accept any reductions in military spending while the other party refuses to accept any serious reductions in domestic welfare programs. In fact, both parties support increases in both military and domestic welfare spending. The two parties may disagree on some details of what kind of military or domestic welfare spending they favor, but they do agree that they both need to increase. This is what is called “bipartisanship” in Washington.
While the media played up the drama of the down-to-the-wire negotiations, there was never any real chance that a deal would not be worked out. It was just drama. That is how Washington operates. As it happened, a small handful of Congressional and Administration leaders gathered in the dark of the night behind closed doors to hammer out a deal that would be shoved down the throats of Members whose constituents had been told repeatedly that the world would end if this miniscule decrease in the rate of government spending was allowed to go through.
While many on both sides express satisfaction that this deal only increases taxes on the “rich,” most Americans will see more of their paycheck going to Washington because of the deal. The Tax Policy Center has estimated that 77 percent of Americans would see higher taxes because of the elimination of the payroll tax cut.
The arguments against the automatic “cuts” in military spending were particularly dishonest. Hawks on both sides warned of doom and gloom if, as the plan called for, the defense budget would have returned to 2007 levels of spending! Does anybody really believe that our defense spending was woefully inadequate just five years ago? And since 2007 we have been told that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are winding down. According to the Congressional Budget Office, over the next eight years military spending would increase 20 percent without the sequester and would increase 18 percent with the sequester. And this is what is called a dangerous reduction in defense spending?
Ironically, some of the members who are most vocal against tax increases and in favor of cuts to domestic spending are the biggest opponents of cutting a penny from the Pentagon budget. Over and over we were told of the hundreds of thousands of jobs that would be lost should military spending be returned to 2007 levels. Is it really healthy to think of our defense budget as a jobs program? Many of these allegedly free-market members sound more Keynesian than Paul Krugman when they praise the economic “stimulus” created by militarism.
As Chris Preble of the Cato Institute wrote recently, “It’s easy to focus exclusively on the companies and individuals hurt by the cuts and forget that the taxed wealth that funded them is being employed elsewhere.”
While Congress ultimately bears responsibility for deficit spending, we must never forget that the Federal Reserve is the chief enabler of deficit spending. Without a central bank eager to monetize the debt, Congress would be unable to fund the welfare-warfare state without imposing unacceptable levels of taxation on the American people. Of course, the Federal Reserve’s policies do impose an “inflation” tax on the American people; however, since this tax is hidden Congress does not fear the same public backlash it would experience if it directly raised income taxes.
I have little hope that a majority of Congress and the President will change their ways and support real spending reductions unless forced to by an economic crisis or by a change in people’s attitudes toward government. Fortunately, increasing numbers of Americans are awakening to the dangers posed by the growth of the welfare-warfare state. Hopefully this movement will continue to grow and force the politicians to reverse course before government spending, taxing, and inflation destroys our economy entirely.
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Photo added to original post.
Israel behind bogus Iran nuclear data leak – reports
05 months ago
Source: http://rt.com
Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel, points to a red line he drew on a graphic of a bomb while addressing the United Nations General Assembly on September 27, 2012 in New York City. (Mario Tama/Getty Images/AFP)
Israel may be behind a series of leaks implicating Iran in nuclear weapons experiments, Western diplomats say, stressing that in doing so Tel Aviv could have compromised the ongoing UN investigation into Tehran’s nuclear activities and ambitions.
In its efforts to raise international pressure on Tehran, Israel supposedly carried out leaks of several documents from an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) investigation, The Guardian reported on Monday citing Western diplomats.
The latest leak, published by the Associated Press last month, showed a diagram representing the results of a computer modeling of a 50-kiloton nuclear device. The chart was leaked by an unnamed official from “a country critical of Iran’s atomic program,” AP said.
However, the report came under fire shortly afterwards, with critics pointing out that the diagram was not only flawed but based on unclassified information. “This diagram does nothing more than indicate either slipshod analysis or an amateurish hoax,” nuclear scientists Yousaf Butt and Ferenc Dalnoki-Veress declared on the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists website.
This is a work in progess, a self learning tool and fun little project. Please excuse the slow development as it seems the needed proper time is always lacking. It is my hope that the combination of content and links to other sources of information in this simple blog may help awaken a few of the sleeping masses and encourage and inspire others to initiate their own research, ultimately for each person to be a light to help awaken others. Opinions expressed belong to me, myself and I. Also, a big thank you to all that take the time to visit, it is appreciated :)
